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It can be intimidating for some to walk into a retail wine shop with hundreds of bottles and a price range of $7 to $300. Even a small shop may have 500 to 700 different labels of red and white wines.

You may not know the technical terms or understand the strange wine-speak used by dedicated winos. You may not even know what you like or want to try. That’s all okay if you’re in a shop where retail consultants have a patient ear and ask good questions.

Be prepared to work with retail wine sales people and you’re much more likely to walk away with a bottle you’ll enjoy. There are things you can do to help that retail sales person find you a great bottle of wine at all price points.

First, think just a little about what you like. Do you like your reds big and bold or light on the palate? Do you prefer whites with a big mouthfeel, smooth and rich? Or do you prefer clean and crisp white wines and flavors?

Talking about flavors is a good start in any store. The other question you’re going to get is “what are you prepared to spend?” That is where you need to be honest and don’t inflate your answer, and spend more, than you are really prepared to pay for a bottle of wine.

Upselling is as common in a wine shop as a clothing retailer trying to sell you socks after buying a shirt or blouse. A retail shop is there to make money and upselling is quite common. Be firm if not convinced the more expensive bottle will really suit your tastes and pocketbook.

Now that I have personal retail experience I like to find a customer the price point they are looking for and then, more often than not, suggest another bottle at a lower price and a bottle which costs more than they were originally seeking. More expensive wines are better for lots of reasons. But one of the bigger stories, perhaps untold, is the increasing quality of inexpensive wine. Quality continues to improve as more people enjoy wine with dinner and recreationally.

Some wine people, retail and writers, get hung up on the ‘hints of cherry and underlying flavors of black currants” and other such descriptors. Ask the wine retailer is it bold or light in flavor? Would they describe the wine as acidic – which can be a good or bad thing.

Remember almost all shops will offer a discount for quantity purchases. A 10 percent discount is not uncommon for a six or 12 bottle purchase, which will of course vary from store to store.

Then obviously take advantage of tasting events. The more you taste wine the better chance you have of finding wines you will enjoy.

It’s summer time so get to your wine retailer and stock up on whites, rose’ and don’t forget the bubbles!

So how do you take the next step in your wine drinking? Let’s say you have an interest or desire to drink better wine. Perhaps you feel stuck drinking the same $15 Tuesday night red or white.

The easy answer is to spend more money. You can go out and buy a $30 bottle instead of the $15 and odds are good you’ll drink better wine. But perhaps the approach should be more discerning.

If you want to improve your wine picks then get into a wine shop or a liquor store, big box store, that has a big selection. And yes, you’re going to pay more for better wine.

Perhaps one of the most frequently asked questions is what’s the difference between a $15 and $50 bottle of wine. The answer isn’t neat and simple but several factors will help you appreciate the higher price beyond the taste.

Higher-end wines are usually made in small batches. Would you rather drink wine made in a silo or one made in a small oaken barrel? Would you rather drink wine where grapes are indiscriminately yanked from the vines by machines or hand-picked before heading to the winery? Would you like to drink wines where the vineyards produce seven tons per acre with no pruning or wines grown in a vineyard where leaves are trimmed for ideal ripening and fruit is dropped during the growing season to increase the intensity of the fruit? Those things greatly increase labor costs.

There are reasons – good and bad – that bottle costs more than $100.

The biggest material expense is oak. Cheaper wines are aged in used oak barrels or oak barrels from less prestigious regions. In recent years, the much-derided use of oak chips has proven a popular and cheap alternative for low cost wines. Top-end wines are aged in new French oak barrels which can cost $1,500-$2000, while most are $1000-$1,200. American oak barrels often cost half or a third of that amount.

Is there a difference in the golf club you buy at the local big chain discount store and the club you’d buy at a top-flight pro shop?

There has always been something pseudo glamorous about a $100 bottle of Napa Cab. Now it’s hard to find a Napa Winey with a top bottling that costs less than $100. Napa’s top vineyard To Kalon is in such high demand that the vineyard owner will only sell to producers who price their wines at certain levels above $100 a bottle.

But, as noted earlier, lets move beyond price. One approach to drinking better wine is taking a wine you like and go online to see if the winery produces a more refined, and higher-priced, similar bottle. If the winery has a $15 Cab there is a good chance it also produces a $30-$50 Cabernet.

Going to a wine shop should expose you to someone with expertise who can ask you questions about what you’re drinking and suggest the next logical step. Logic doesn’t dictate going from $15 to $100. If you’re sold that bill of goods leave and don’t return to that wine retailer.

If’ you’re drinking mostly $15 wine, your next step up the wine ladder should be in the $25-$50 range. Look for wines from a specific region. If you’re buying Napa Cab – and that’s all it says on the label – the grapes could come from 16 different sites in Napa. That’s good wine but there are probably no defining characteristics. Instead, buy a Napa Cab from Rutherford, Mt. Veeder or Howell Mountain for nuance in the flavors.

You need to get to about the $50-$75 price point to start drinking the really fine wines. In lesser regions, $30-$50 will get you a really good bottle.

If you’re drinking wine costing less than $20 simply ask for some advice and try something that costs 50 percent more or double the price. You’ll consume much better wine.

Like this:

Authors Note: For the next few weeks I’ll be taking care of some health issues. I plan to continue the column during that period. Some columns, like this one below, will be a revisit to something I wrote in my first or second year. I’ll always label previously publish columns for my readers.

It’s time to get out of the supermarket and into the wine shop.

There are good wine shops near wherever you live. You have to get away from grocery store wine – that wine has soured many potential wine drinkers. The biggest thing I’ve learned is that for only a few dollars more, you can be drinking better wine.

I’ve been paying a lot of attention to wine prices at the local market and notice they’re creeping up. They are increasing because more people are buying value wine and often end up less than satisfied but don’t know any better. They’re not getting any help. But you can go to a wine shop and buy substantially better wine at an equal or minimally higher price because the market is so competitive once you get out of the grocery.

Smaller wineries cannot afford the marketing and often don’t have the product to supply major grocery chains so they work with smaller distributors and stock the shelves of wine shops.

So let’s go to the wine shop.

Start thinking more about wine when you drink it. What were the characteristics you enjoyed? Do you want something smooth and mild on the palate or do you want a big mouthful of flavor. Do like a little acid on the finish or do you like the tannins (that slight bitterness) which helps balance the strong flavors of big-tasting food?

The most important thing in finding a shop isn’t its inventory or how pretty the shop appears. You need to meet the wine shop proprietor or the shops sales people and have a nice long chat. The biggest wine novice mistake is the fear of asking a stupid question or worrying about their wine knowledge.

This is the way I buy wine. I have about four or five stores I buy wine from regularly. I trust my knowledge but almost always take home a bottle or two recommended by the shop owner.

And now a few words about labels and those nifty little tasting notes some shops put up beneath some or all bottles. For the most part, those can be helpful. But remember, the description on the bottle is part of the winery’s marketing.

The notes in the wine shops might come from one of the big wine review publications like Wine Spectator or Wine Advocate. Some shops do their own notes, those are the places I might be more inclined to trust.

Cheers!

Howard W. Hewitt, Crawfordsville, writes every other week about value wine for more than 20 Indiana newspapers.

There are good wine shops near wherever you live. You have to get away from grocery store wine – that wine has soured many potential wine drinkers. The biggest thing I’ve learned is that for only a few dollars more, you can be drinking better wine.

I’ve been paying a lot of attention to wine prices at the local market and notice they’re creeping up. They are increasing because more people are buying value wine and often end up less than satisfied but don’t know any better. They’re not getting any help. But you can go to a wine shop and buy substantially better wine at an equal or minimally higher price because the market is so competitive once you get out of the grocery.

Smaller wineries cannot afford the marketing and often don’t have the product to supply major grocery chains so they work with smaller distributors and stock the shelves of wine shops.

So let’s go to the wine shop.

Start thinking more about wine when you drink it. What were the characteristics you enjoyed? Do you want something smooth and mild on the palate or do you want a big mouthful of flavor. Do like a little acid on the finish or do you like the tannins (that slight bitterness) which helps balance the strong flavors of big-tasting food?

The most important thing in finding a shop isn’t its inventory or how pretty the shop appears. You need to meet the wine shop proprietor or the shops sales people and have a nice long chat. The biggest wine novice mistake is the fear of asking a stupid question or worrying about their wine knowledge.

This is the way I buy wine. I have about four or five stores I buy wine from regularly. I trust my knowledge but almost always take home a bottle or two recommended by the shop owner.

And now a few words about labels and those nifty little tasting notes some shops put up beneath some or all bottles. For the most part, those can be helpful. But remember, the description on the bottle is part of the winery’s marketing.

The notes in the wine shops might come from one of the big wine review publications like Wine Spectator or Wine Advocate. Some shops do their own notes, those are the places I might be more inclined to trust.

Cheers!

NOTE: I’m about to undergo several weeks of medical treatment. During that time I hope and plan to continue writing new columns. On occasion I will bring back one of my earlier columns and freshen it up as I have done here. I will always note when it’s a previously published piece. Thanks for reading.

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